The present invention relates to intravenous catheter placement assemblies and, more particularly, to needle-inside, winged catheter placement assemblies.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,725,058 granted to A. Rathkey on Nov. 29, 1955 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,064,648 granted to A. Bujan on Nov. 20, 1962 disclose winged, intravenous needle assemblies. These needles serve as both a vein puncturing means and medical solutions conduit when used for intravenous solutions administration. Due to the necessary rigidity of these needles and their sharpened ends, it is common to immobilize that part of the patient into which the needle is inserted to avoid inadvertent damage to the patient's vein. If the needle remains inserted for extended periods of time, such continued immobilization results in stiffness and other discomfort to the patient.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,537,451 granted to D. Beck, et al., on Nov. 3, 1970, discloses a needle-inside catheter placement assembly having a partially rigid, partially flexible needle and a removeable, winged insertion means loosely surmounting the catheter. Unfortunately, once the winged insertion means has been removed from the catheter, it cannot be used for securing the inserted catheter to the flesh of the patient surrounding the venipuncture site.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,589,361 granted to D. Loper on June 29, 1971 discloses a needle-inside, winged catheter placement assembly which seeks to obviate the disadvantages of the Rathkey, Beck and Bujan needles. The Loper device comprises a needle concentrically located inside a flexible catheter which has a winged insertion means slidably affixed thereon and a hub affixed to its proximal end. When a patient is to be administered an intravenous solution, the winged insertion means is used to insert the needle and catheter into the patient's vein. The needle is then withdrawn from the catheter and the vein and the catheter adhered to the patient's body by means of the slidable wings.
An inherent disadvantage of the Loper device is that its catheter hub is located so near the venipuncture wound that inadvertent manipulation of the catheter can occur during attachment of the intravenous solution administration tubing to the hub, resulting in irritation of, or damage to, the tissue at the wound site. U.S. Pat. No. 3,769,975 granted Nov. 6, 1973 to M. Nimoy, et al. discloses a needle-inside, winged catheter placement assembly that obviates the above-stated inherent disadvantage of the Loper device by means of a flexible tubing extending from the proximal end of its winged insertion means and having a tubing hub at its proximal end.
An inherent disadvantage of the Nimoy device is that it requires the use of an extraneous sleeve positioned over the flexible tubing to prevent displacement of the wing section toward the tubing hub during the catheterization procedure. The need for such a sleeve requires additional costs and steps in the assembling and use of the Nimoy device. Another disadvantage of the Nimoy device is that its needle is rigid along its entire, relatively long length, resulting in poor maneuverability of the device during venipuncture. Accordingly, it will be apparent that such a needle-inside, winged catheter placement assembly without need of an extraneous sleeve and having a needle of substantially more flexibility would be advantageous and desirable.